


Treasures of Alexandria

by Awesome_Sauce432



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: F/M, Historical AU, Jemma is Egyptian, Leo is Roman, Royal Library of Alexandria, so naturally they meet in a library, they are all nerds
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-28
Updated: 2016-12-28
Packaged: 2018-09-12 20:52:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,458
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9090310
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Awesome_Sauce432/pseuds/Awesome_Sauce432
Summary: When Leo arrived in Egypt, there was one thing he had been looking forward to seeing, above all the other wonders that the country had to offer. The Royal Library of Alexandria. Filled to the brim with knowledge and secrets, it contained everything Leo wanted. Once he got there, he realised it also contained some things that he hadn't wanted, but he was quite happy to see anyway.Historical!AU, a Fitzsimmons Secret Santa Gift to fitzsimmonsavenger! I really hope you like it. ^_^





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [fitzsimmonsavenger](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=fitzsimmonsavenger).



Leo strolled casually through the grand entry of the Royal Library of Alexandria. Already he had been amazed by Egypt, through its beauty and its people’s culture, but this was what he had been looking forward to ever since he had arrived from Rome. Word of the Great Library’s splendour and, best of all, its wealth of knowledge, had spread far and wide throughout the world, and many brilliant minds travelled to Egypt just to step inside and see it for themselves.

Leo was one of those minds, and he was not disappointed. The building itself was magnificent, made from smooth and carved stone that was cool to the touch despite the heat of the Egyptian summer. Carvings and paintings littered the walls, telling stories of Egyptian myths and detailing battles that the nation had been a part of, hieroglyphics giving details below the pictures.

Stepping through the first, open chamber of the library and into one of the inner chambers, Leo felt excitement rise within him. Before him were shelves upon shelves of scrolls, piled higher than he could reach. They seemed to stretch longer than he could even imagine. Throughout his time in Egypt, Leo had noticed the Egyptians penchant for creating things large and magnificent, and this was no different. It was the biggest library he had even seen. He would be able to spend a lifetime in here, and still not lay his eyes on every single scroll in the place.

For just a moment, he stood there, breathless. Daylight streamed in through windows high up on the walls, and there was a soft smell of incense and a stronger smell of dried papyrus filling the room. People roamed around, many Egyptian but a few wearing unfamiliar clothes of different cultures. Leo even noticed a few that might be fellow Romans. 

Finally, he stepped forward, admiring the sheer number of scrolls and texts. The rumours had not been exaggerated. If anything, they had been understated. Truly, the Great Library of Alexandria housed some of the most important treasures of their world. Naturally, by treasures he meant knowledge.

It took him at least ten minutes simply to decide on a scroll to pick up first. It turned out to be written in Egyptian hieroglyphics, a language that Leo was unfortunately not quite proficient in. He continued to browse around until he found a scroll written in Greek. It was about medicine, including a detailed diagram of a human’s body, and a list of some of the various afflictions that it could have.

Leo soon became absorbed in the scroll, never noticing when someone walked up behind him. However, he did notice when the person reached over, plucking out a scroll just a little to the left of him.

Startled, he jumped, holding onto the scroll tight. There was a light laugh from next to him. A woman’s laugh, he realised. 

“You appear very interested in that.” She said, her voice light and easy. Leo quickly recovered, turning to face her.

She was Egyptian, with smooth, tanned skin. She was at least a head shorter than him, with wavy dark brown hair and bright brown eyes looking up at him. There was a wry smile on her face, and she held the scroll she had picked out like it was a well-worn possession.

“I like that one myself.” She continued to speak, looking quite as ease when compared to Leo’s startled reaction to her. 

“Oh-“ Leo stammered, trying to recover from his shock. “You speak Greek?” He said. The woman nodded, looking quite proud of herself.

“I had to learn it if I wanted to read most of these scrolls.” The woman said, pointing at the scroll in Leo’s hands before continuing to talk. “Someday I want to visit Rome. You’re Roman, right?” The woman said, raising an eyebrow in uncertainty. Leo nodded, the shock of her sudden appearance still wearing off. In Rome, it was rare to see a woman roaming a library by herself. But Leo had learned very quickly that things were different in Egypt.

“That’s incredible. Perhaps you can tell me about it. I’ve heard there are many great scholars there.” The woman smiled, her eyes taking on the faraway look of a child imagining their greatest dream. 

“Yes, well-there certainly are.” Leo said. He wasn’t quite sure of what to make of her. She had to be intelligent, considering she appeared to learn Greek for the sole purpose of reading scrolls.

“Of course, I don’t think there’s a single library in the entire world that can compare to the Royal Library.” The woman said, gesturing around. Leo had to agree. Just the sheer number of scrolls put it above most libraries he had been to.

“Do you spend much time here?” Leo asked. Now that he was thinking about it, it would be very interesting to get an Egyptians opinion, since up until now he had spoken mostly to men and women of his own culture. Surely this woman would have a far more informed opinion. He also got the distinct impression that this women spent more time here than perhaps anywhere else.

“Oh yes, whenever I can. I come by nearly every day.” The woman looked quite proud, gently stroking the scroll in her hand. “In fact, the scroll you are holding right now is one of my favourites. I had been intending to read it again, but instead I found you holding it.” She said, smiling. Leo couldn’t help but notice that she had a very beautiful smile, wide and soft. 

“Really?” Leo asked, looking down at the scroll. “I had just been browsing. I’m not yet sure of how these scrolls are organised.” He admitted.

“Well, if you’re looking for anything in particular, I could help you find it. I know where most things are.” The woman said. “I could give you a quick tour.”

“That would be wonderful.” Leo said, the words slipping out of him before he had a chance to think about it. The woman’s face lit up like the sun, and quickly whisked him away to a surprisingly thorough tour of the library.

It turned out to be even larger than he had hoped, with the chamber he had been standing in only one out of many. Along with roomed filled with scrolls, there were also gardens, meeting rooms, and a few dozen others that, even after the woman’s explanation, Leo was unsure of their purpose. They breezed through them all so quickly he barely had time to process all of the information.

But he was enjoying every single second of it. Not just because of the magnificent library, but because of the woman. She was so enthusiastic about all of it, and it was painfully obvious that the library was like a second home to her. She picked up her favourite scrolls with all the tenderness most reserved for newborns, and listed off names and titles with lightning speed. 

By the time the tour was over, it felt like only minutes had passed, though the sheer scale of the library meant it had to have been much longer. Leo was breathless and amazed.

“Thank you, for showing me everything. It... it’s incredible.” He said, turning to face the woman.

“It’s my pleasure.” The woman said, smiling up at him. “It’s not often I have such an enjoyable time here with someone else.”

“I’m glad that I could provide.” Leo smiled. “Perhaps we will meet again someday, when you come to Rome.” The thought of that was definitely something to look forward to.

“Definitely. I’ll make an effort to search you out.” The woman said. Her eyes suddenly widened. “Oh-But I don’t even know your name!”

Leo’s eyes widened as well. He had never even thought to ask the woman her name. Yet it had felt like he had known her forever. 

“It’s Leo.” He said quickly. The woman looked slightly startled, but quickly recovered.

“And my name is Jemma.” She said. Jemma. It was a beautiful name, he thought. 

“Well Jemma, I won’t be leaving Egypt for a while. Do you think you will be able to be here tomorrow?” He asked. Now Jemma looked surprised, her eyes widening. 

“Definitely. Perhaps you will be able to tell me about Rome.” She said, smiling wider and wider. Leo couldn’t help but return the smile. Perhaps, when she did come to Rome, and it was definitely a ‘when’, not an ‘if’, he would be able to show her around Rome like she had shown him around the library.

Yes, he decided. The Royal Library of Alexandria certainly housed some of the greatest treasures of their world. And this time, he didn’t just mean the knowledge.

**Author's Note:**

> Merry Christmas! First, a little message to my secret santa gift, fitzsimmonsavenger.
> 
> I hope you like this one-shot, I'd gravitated towards doing a historical au once I got your prompt, and I though the Library of Alexandria would be the perfect place for History Fitzsimmons to meet. It's got scrolls, knowledge, it's huge, it seemed perfect to me. I hope you like what I've done, and that you like your gift!
> 
> And to everyone else, as always, thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoy it as well!! It's been a while since I've put out anything, sorry about that.


End file.
